3/2/18  //  Daily Update

According to a new poll, more than 80% of Americans favor continuing the DACA program. U.S. counterintelligence officials, including the FBI, are scrutinizing Ivanka Trump's negotiations and financing surrounding the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver. Starting on March 1, more than 1,000 employees of the federal judiciary became subject to a policy that prohibits them from partisan political activity, including campaign contributions. Vladimir Putin used his annual state of the nation speech to threaten Western nations with a new generation of nuclear weapons and to reassure Russians that new social spending will benefit their lives.

3/1/18  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration submitted a brief requesting the Supreme Court deny a request to review a second case on the Administration’s travel ban. President Trump lambasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter, criticizing Sessions’s statement that the DOJ Inspector General would investigate alleged surveillance abuses. The Supreme Court heard a case today challenging the constitutionality of laws restricting political clothing at polling places. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Jared Kushner pursued his business and family’s interests under the pretext of serving U.S. foreign policy. Washington state passed a net neutrality law that applies to all ISPs in the state.

2/28/18  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that immigrants held in detention centers do not have a right to bond hearings. Jared Kushner’s security clearance has been downgraded to Secret level, meaning he will no longer be able to access top-secret documents he previously had access to. The head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, Mike Rogers, publicly stated that the Trump administration is “not doing enough” to deter future Russian interference in elections. Hope Hicks refused to answer many questions about the Trump administration and Russian Interference in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

2/27/18  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court’s recently released calendar reveals that it will hear oral arguments on President Trump’s travel ban on April 25. The Justice Department is now moving toward regulating bump stocks despite earlier opinions that it did not have the power to do so. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in the workplace, applies to LGBT people. The Trump Organization claimed it donated its profits from foreign governments to the US Treasury, but refused to give any details on the amount of its donation.

2/26/18  //  Daily Update

Immigration officers under the Trump Administration are increasingly arresting people with no criminal backgrounds. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled a planned trip to Washington after a “testy call” with President Trump ended in an impasse over whether Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall. The Supreme Court is set to hear a case, United States v. Microsoft, that will determine whether an American company must comply with a court order to turn over data stored abroad under the Stored Communications Act. Rick Gates, formerly deputy campaign manager of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy against the United States and making false statements to the FBI.

2/23/18  //  Daily Update

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new mission statement in which it dropped the words “America’s promise as a nation of immigrants” and “promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship.” Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to propose to President Trump that transgender members of the U.S. military continue to serve. Other red states may follow Idaho’s decision to allow insurers to sell healthcare plans out of compliance with the ACA, and the courts are unlikely to intervene. Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a new indictment against Paul Manafort.

2/22/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump held a listening session including people affected by school shootings who urged action on gun control. Border Patrol is stretching its authority to search private property and extend its reach beyond the physical border. New lawsuits seek to challenge the winner-take-all approach to allocating Electoral College votes in most states. Benjamin Wittes, editor of Lawfare blog, sued the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act over its failure to produce records related to its promotion of Mar-a-Lago. Former Trump campaign advisor Sam Nunberg will be interviewed by the Special Counsel.

2/21/18  //  Daily Update

In response to the recent shooting at a Florida high school, President Trump announced that the Justice Department will propose regulations banning bump stocks. Despite Saudi Arabia’s refusal to accept nonproliferation safeguards, the Trump Administration is seeking to sell nuclear reactors to the kingdom. A lawsuit alleges that the Trump Administration is holding young adults indefinitely and illegally. A lawyer involved with Rick Gates and Paul Manafort pled guilty to making false statements to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the course of the investigation into Russian election meddling.

2/20/18  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court is likely to take one of five approaches to the Trump Administration's request for expedited review of a lower court's block on terminating the DACA program. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Jared Kushner “has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition.” AT&T is arguing in court that “President Trump's hatred of CNN played a role in the DOJ's attempt to block AT&T's purchase of Time Warner Inc. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered new U.S. Congressional maps to rectify what it had previously ruled was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

2/19/18  //  Daily Update

Via tweet, President Trump blamed the FBI’s preoccupation on the Russian interference investigation for its failure to prevent last week’s school shooting in Florida. The October deaths of four American soldiers in Niger raise questions about the amorphous and expansive post-9/11 “war on terror.” Former Trump campaign advisor Richard Gates will testify against Paul Manafort, as part of a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denied that vacancies in the State Department evidence a dismantling of the agency.

2/16/18  //  Daily Update

The Fourth Circuit has invalidated the third iteration of the Travel Ban, joining the Ninth Circuit, but the injunction is stayed pending Supreme Court review of the case. The Vera Institute of Justice told its lawyers nationwide not to discuss abortion access with undocumented immigrant minors in custody, for fear it would jeopardize a multimillion-dollar contract with HHS. President Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an advisor to first lady Melania Trump, while donating $5 million less than expected to charity. The CFPB’s just-released strategic plan reflects a new restrained approach.

2/15/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump threatened to veto any immigration bill that doesn’t meet the “four pillars” of his demands. Vice President Pence announced that the U.S. intelligence community universally concluded that Russia did not affect the outcome of the 2016 election, despite the fact that officials have made no such judgment. There is an increasing wave of efforts to punish or restrain judges who reject political districting. The United States may seek to put Pakistan on the Terrorism-Finance List.

2/14/18  //  Daily Update

A federal judge issued a nationwide injunction temporarily maintaining DACA protections for those who applied before the Administration announced its repeal. Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicted the White House’s statement that the investigation into staff secretary Rob Porter’s security clearance was ongoing at the time of his resignation. The Administration’s budget proposal shrinks the Department of Energy budget by more than $1 billion, including eliminating a popular program that provides grant funding to early-stage energy research.

2/13/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump released his budget proposal, which includes a substantial increase in military spending and additional infrastructure funding but cuts other domestic programs such as Medicare. The Human Rights Campaign released a statement calling the proposed budget ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ for its cuts to programs critical to the safety of LGBTQ people. Attorney General Jeff Sessions deviated from prepared remarks to the National Sheriffs Association to emphasize the ‘Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.’ Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand left her job due to frustration at the slow pace of nominations for Department of Justice positions and concern that she would be expected to supervise the Mueller investigation if President Trump fired Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

2/12/18  //  Daily Update

A federal judge ruled that detaining inmates beyond their release date at the request of the U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement violates the Fourth Amendment. Senior officials in the Trump Administration are divided over whether two ISIS militants should go to Guantánamo Bay or be brought to the U.S. for a criminal trial. Rachel Brand, the third-highest official at the Department of Justice, is stepping down. US intelligence agencies attempted to purchase information from a Russian who promised he could provide information stolen from the National Security Agency and compromising information on President Trump.